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| - In November 2024, a viral TikTok set off a wave of claims across the internet that Sephora, the French beauty chain, donated to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's campaign. In the original video, which offered no evidence to back the claim, TikTok user @karressmarie wrote "Sephora BIG BIG BIG DONATIONS!!" The video ended by saying, "I HOPE we all understand the assignment for this Christmas season!" As of this writing, the video has received more than 13.7 million views and 1.8 million likes.
@karressmarie4 Well well well… 😏 #christmas #christmasdecor #christmastiktok ♬ Bring Em Out - T.I.
The claim quickly made its way to other platforms, including dozens of posts on official Sephora website forums.
(community.sephora.com)
We looked into the claim and found that it was entirely made up. There is no evidence that Sephora donated to Trump's campaign or any other political campaign. We searched the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website and found no record of LVMH, the beauty chain's parent company, making contributions to a political candidate as an organization. However, individual employees of the company donated more than $35,000 collectively to Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, according to OpenSecrets.
We reached out to Sephora seeking clarification on the rumor, and they responded as follows:
It has come to our attention that there is incorrect information circulating on social media regarding company donations. Sephora does not make corporate donations to political candidates. Sephora's mission is to create a welcoming beauty shopping experience for all.
Some comments online went a step further and claimed that the CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, is friends with Trump.
(community.sephora.com)
Although there is insufficient evidence to confirm that Arnault supports Trump, he did meet with the CEO in Texas in 2019 to cut the ribbon on a new Louis Vuitton workshop.
(Getty Images)
In sum, the rumor that Sephora or its parent company, LVMH, donated to Trump's campaign was entirely made up. Because there is no evidence that any such donation occurred and Sephora confirmed the company does not make corporate donations to political candidates, we rate this claim false.
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